When we talk about Web design, there are many aspects involved. The aspect we will deal with on this page is Graphic Design, which deserves a whole chapter for being one of the most important elements of Web pages. Different companies come to the conclusion that, in order to increase profits, they need to have a website designed. A website can be highly beneficial for your business; however, if your website does not enjoy a quality graphic design, it is very likely that all the money you have invested on it ends up being a useless expense.

The graphic design of a website is the representation of your business, the face of your company on the Internet. Every day more and more companies decide to create websites as an effort to improve their financial situation. For websites to be efficient and to bring the benefits they are aimed at, they need to represent the company’s goals, identity, and especially, a connection with the target audience. A website should be created with its target in mind, so that existing clients and prospective clients feel comfortable when surfing your website.

Below we provide you with a list of aspects you need to take into account when designing a website:

Color psychology is the meaning and effects colors have. These meanings and effect will vary according to culture, time and place. A color will not convey the same message to everybody. Each different color will have a specific meaning, but this will depend on when and where the color is being seen.

When having your website designed, it is of high importance to consider these aspects. For your website to be successful and to bring the profits it is expected to bring, it should comprise colors that your target audience will accept. The colors used for the design of your website will also depend on what message you want to convey. That is, color meanings will change according to cultures and to the color itself. Red will not convey the same message as white or yellow. A website comprising mainly pink color details will not say the same as a website with blue color predomination.

It is important to know the different meanings of colors in the different cultures so as to choose the right ones for your website. Once you know which ones are accepted and have a positive connotation in your culture, you will need to analyze the meaning of each color –in your country or culture– so that you select those that will convey the messages you want to convey.

A bad selection of colors can lead to disasters. If your website is aimed to professional doctors, using some deep colors, such as orange, pink, purple, yellow, and other colors, is not exactly a good idea. We recommend hiring a professional and experienced graphic designer for the development of your Web design. Otherwise, your efforts will be of no use and your investment, a useless expense.

Typography

Typography is another important element when talking about graphic design. The size, body, color of the typographic elements used for any type of design piece will say a lot about it. Typography also conveys specific messages and causes certain effects on people. Typography is in fact a very strong element. When having your website designed, you need to make the right typography selection. You should know what fonts will best represent the message you want to convey. The color, shape, size of typography will also depend on the use it will be given on the Web design.

Although there are very appealing different types of fonts, you should take into consideration a few aspects before making your final decision. Among these aspects we will highlight three, which we believe are the most crucial.

Readability

Readability is related with how easily or comfortably a typeset text reads. The good or bad readability of a website is directly connected with the case of fonts, the letter spacing or kerning, word spacing and leading.
Studies show that text in lower case is much more readable than text set in capital letters. This occurs because in the cognition process readers recognize the upper part of letters. Lower case letter structure is clearer and distinctive. Capital letters, on the other hand, seem to have the same structure, and text set mainly –or totally– in the upper case is not very readable. For this reason, we recommend avoiding the abusive use of capitals for the written content of your website design. Capitals can be acceptable for highlights and special section, though.
The distance between letters in a word, that is to say, the kerning is also a determiner of the readability of text. The lack of space between letters may cause the feeling that letters are fused and confuse the reader since he or she won’t be able to differentiate one letter from another unless a great effort is made. Generally, if the reader feels confused when reading a website, they immediately abandon it and look for a clearer and more readable website.
Leading is the space that separate one line from another. Poor or tight leading will make a text terribly unclear and untidy. This is a very small detail that many graphic designers don’t take into consideration and that can ruin a complete website design. If the leading don’t allow the readability of the those types of fonts whose strokes have small details on the end that make a word or a group of word website, the whole design work will be a complete failure and your investment a useless expense.

Serif

Serif fonts are look more connected.

Serif provides connection between letters, allowing a more fluent readability of a text. For this reason, serif fonts are generally used for body text. However, most websites use sans-serif fonts (fonts without serif) because they look much more modern and eye-catching. Apart from this, reading from a screen is not the same as reading from a book. Sans-serif fonts are not recommended for printed texts.

Sans-serif

Sans-serif fonts means without serif (sans= without in French). These types of fonts are much more attractive than serif fonts; however, sometimes they can be very confusing when they are used abusively.

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Balance

It is of high importance that you consider the style of your company before having your website designed. You need to analyze all the aspects that make up your business so as to reflect them in the design of your website. If your website design does not reflect the message you need to convey –for example, if you sell cell phones but there is not even one photograph of a cell phone on your website–, viewers may get confused and leave the website for another that is clearer.

That is, your website and your company should share the same style. But the elements that comprise your website should also have the same style. This means that there should be an established balance between the elements in the Web design. Colors, shapes, typography, images, illustration, should convey the same message or convey one message in conjunction.

Of course, there are other very important aspects of graphic design that should be taken into consideration when you are having your website designed. Only professional graphic designers know all the aspects to consider and have the skills and knowledge to develop a quality Web design. Be careful when hiring a graphic designer for your website graphic design. Ask them to show you their graphic design portfolios so that you can decide whether they are good enough to develop your work. When checking portfolios, do not choose a graphic design agency just because they have nice and eye-catching designs, make sure their style coincides with your company’s style.